Between October and November, we ran a prize draw for the opportunity to win a brand new iPhone X. All Shiply customers were eligible to take part in the prize draw, and were automatically entered if they accepted three quotes on Shiply between 9 October and 30 November 2017.

Shortly after the closing date of 30 November, a winner was randomly chosen out of the eligible customers and the lucky winner of an iPhone X was Raj Kumar!

Congratulations Raj from all of us at Shiply!

]]>Resolutions for a Green New Yearhttps://www.shiply.com/blog/resolutions-for-a-green-new-year/
Fri, 29 Dec 2017 17:13:12 +0000https://www.shiply.com/blog/?p=4937Perhaps you want to commit to having a greeener 2018 but don’t know where to start? Have you been watching Blue Planet 2 and want to know what you can do to reduce your negative effect on the environment? Here are some ideas for making your 2018 kinder to our planet.

Declutter once and for all

‘Spring cleaning’ will get your home feeling fresh in time for summer and it’s warmer temperatures. It can be difficult to get started (especially if you’ve got lots to get rid of), so don’t be afraid to ask friends or family for a helping hand – even if it’s just someone to repeatedly say ‘keep, throw away or donate’ to keep you on track. Perhaps you can keep yourself motivated by committing to clear out a certain amount of space in a cupboard by the end of the day or reward yourself with a takeaway in the evening. If you have any items of any value, list them on a second hand marketplace like eBay or Amazon and you might even make a profit too!

Fitness and wellbeing

Image Source: highlives.co.uk

Do you have fitness goals this year? Fitness and wellbeing are subjects that are becoming more and more talked about, and rightly so. Perhaps you want to smash a goal like completing a marathon or it could be a smaller lifestyle change like cycling to work instead of taking public transport. Mental health and wellbeing has also been talked about much more in the open, and many people have felt the benefits of speaking about their mental health and self-care.

Take up a green hobby

Image Source: knitaid.org

Do you want to start something new in 2018? It’s never been easier to find like-minded people online and get together over a shared interest. With websites like meetup.com, you can search for any sort of hobby or interest and you’ll find a group for it! Green hobbies could include learning to upcycle furniture, knitting your own clothing or learning to fix things around the home. Many educational institutions offer short courses in popular crafts like sewing or woodwork, or online ‘how to’ videos could teach you everything you need to know. If you want to do something new in the new year, there’s nothing stopping you!

Eat less meat

The meat and dairy industries are coming more and more under fire with more people turning to a meat-free or plant-based diet. If you don’t want to go fully plant-based, you may prefer to buy locally-sourced ingredients or cook only with vegetables that are in season. The meat and dairy industries have a massive negative effect on the environment, and you can make a difference by adjusting your diet. You might even want to sign up to Veganuary and kick off your new year with a vegan month!

]]>Think green this Christmashttps://www.shiply.com/blog/think-green-this-christmas/
Fri, 15 Dec 2017 11:32:43 +0000https://www.shiply.com/blog/?p=4929If you’re wondering how to have a less wasteful Christmas this year, here are some tips to make your Christmas a little greener. Planning ahead could make a big difference to how much you throw away and help minimise your effect on the environment.

Buy Second hand presents

Image Souce Ebay.co.uk

Second hand doesn’t have to be a stained or half eaten present. It can also mean something virtually brand new in a box that was an unwanted gift for someone else but perfect for who you’re buying for. Before heading straight for brand new, consider looking for something second hand. Use sites like eBay to find pre-loved (or never-loved) items that deserve a better home and look good as new, which should please even the fussiest of Christmas guests. It should save you some money, too.

Be mindful of potential waste

There are a lot of things we do around this period that are excessive, without giving them a second thought. Do you really need to buy a huge bag of sprouts when it’s only one person that’ll actually eat them? Do you really need three whole desserts for a family of six? When you’re shopping, try and think about portion sizes (if you’re going to be following recipes, look at what is recommended for each person and try to stick to it). People overspend and overbuy – remember you can always buy more another day if there’s not enough! The same goes for gifts – if you have more than one gift for one person, do you really need to wrap them individually and do they really need more than one in the first place?
If your loved ones have stockings, think about what you’re putting in there and don’t just fill it for the sake of it. Will the small toys really be used? Do they really need all those gimmicks? Think carefully about what you’re buying and the consequences on the planet if they’re thrown away.

Make sure you recycle

Image Source: Wonderopolis.org

If you’re finding it too difficult to find out how many mouths you need to feed, or presents to buy (maybe you’re not sure who’s going to be coming round and when!), make sure that you’re able to recycle what you do not use. For waste food, make sure you don’t just throw it away – leftovers can be sorted into portions and eaten later. Popular ways to use turkey leftovers include making christmas sandwiches or turkey curries. As a last resort, discard in a compost heap or put in a food bin for the council to collect.

Make sure you separate wrapping paper and cardboard to be recycled. If you don’t already recycle, take a look at your local council’s website to see how you can avoid putting your Christmas waste into landfill.

Think green this Christmas!

]]>How Shiply can help you this Decemberhttps://www.shiply.com/blog/how-shiply-can-help-you-this-december/
Fri, 01 Dec 2017 12:06:05 +0000https://www.shiply.com/blog/?p=4924Shiply can help with a range of challenges you might face over the Christmas period, from the all-important build up, right through to the new year. With savings of up to 75%, Shiply can help save you money during what is typically an expensive time of year, for a range of different services like moving home, helping with those bulky furniture arrangements and getting those all-important presents to your loved ones.

Image source aaees.net

Coming home from uni?

If you have to leave your halls of residence at the end of every term, you might need some help getting everything home. It’s easy to find a removal service on Shiply, and if you need help packing and unpacking, our transport providers can quote for these services, too. Perfect for if you’ve asked enough favours this year from your parents or friends or if your uni is particularly far from home.

Christmas presents

You’ve found the perfect gift for Mr or Ms Impossible-to-buy-for, BUT you’ve discovered that the item is collection only and is to be collected from the other side of the country…or somewhere just too difficult to get to. Many of Shiply’s customers find it super-easy to find a courier to get you that perfect gift, whether it’s coming from the next village or the next country. Shiply is also an eBay-compatible application so you don’t need to put in ebay item details manually – just put the eBay URL into our form and the fields will populate automatically with item information and photos to save you time.

Image source – therugseller.co.uk

Moving home?

Have you recently bought a new home that you’re going to be moving into in time for the arrival of Father Christmas? The combination of the pressure of Christmas festivities alongside what is notoriously one of the most stressful things you can do could easily be calmed by hiring a helping hand, be it just a man with a van to get your things from A to B with a bit of heavy lifting or whether you’d like someone to take care of the whole process while you’re at work, including packing, unpacking, assembling and disassembling furniture and appliances. We can even help with pets!

Preparing your home for Christmas

Preparing your home for Christmas day can involve a lot of organisation and hard work. Maybe your Christmas tree is too heavy to carry yourself or you could do with some help having your decorations delivered as well as installing them at home. Just list your requirements on Shiply if you think it’ll be difficult to do alone this year.
Not enough chairs for everyone to sit round the table? A man and van service can help you gather up those spare chairs from loved ones’ homes so you can all be comfortable on Christmas day.

Tesla has revealed their new electric articulated lorry, the Tesla Semi, which they hope will be a replacement to the diesel-guzzling trucks currently in use by 3.5 million truck drivers in the US. It is the first electric truck to be revealed amongst several companies making similar electric vehicles including Daimler AG, Volkswagen, Cummins and Nikola.

CEO of Tesla, Elon Musk, revealed that the Tesla Semi can also reach an impressive speed; an empty trailer can go from 0 to 60mph in just 5 seconds! The truck will have a central driving position (not on one side like we currently drive) with touch screens on either side of the driving seat. The truck will also have cameras instead of wing mirrors.

Safety is a big concern for Tesla. The truck will come with an enhanced version of Tesla’s current semi-autonomous driving system called AutoPilot which is installed in all Tesla vehicles – this gives them self-driving capability which is safer than human driving. The new truck is also said to have lane-keeping technology and be impossible to jackknife.

For truck drivers, the range the truck can travel on one charge is an important factor. The Tesla semi will be able to travel 500 miles on one charge whilst full and at highway speeds. Despite this impressive range for such a large vehicle, this is still significantly less than the range of current diesel trucks on a tank of diesel, with refilling much faster than recharging a truck’s battery.

No price has yet been revealed, but Tesla says that the vehicle will work out cheaper per mile (about 20%) than a diesel equivalent once all costs are accounted for including fuel and maintenance.

Do you think the Tesla Semi is enough to convert diesel truck drivers?